Police and PTSD:There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting

There's more than one victim in Bethel fatal shooting
Updated: 10/27/2009 10:38:43 PM EDT


Gary Bush has never met Michael Libertini, the Bethel police sergeant who shot and killed 56-year-old Joseph DellaVentura on Saturday, after DellaVentura allegedly pointed a gun at him.
But the bond Bush and Libertini share is unquestionable.

It's also unwanted.

Bush, a former police officer in Charleston, W.Va., knows just how Libertini feels.

On Dec. 23, 1994, at 10:41 p.m. -- exactly 25 hours and 19 minutes before Christmas, he'll tell you -- Bush shot and killed a man named Franklin Knuckles.

Bush said Knuckles was drunk that night when police entered the garage apartment where he was holed up.

In similar fashion to what Bethel police say DellaVentura did, Knuckles ignored commands to drop his weapon. Instead, Bush said, Knuckles pointed a rifle at him and Bush fired one round in response.

Just like that, two lives changed forever.

"My shooting took place in this little 10-by-6 room. It might as well have been a firefight in a walk-in closet," said the 48-year-old Bush, who now lives in Cincinnati.

"Even after all this time, I look back and ask, 'Why did this happen?' You can't explain it because it doesn't make sense," Bush reflected. "In my case, I ended up retiring a little over a year after the shooting."

Almost 15 years later, Bush still attends therapy. He still takes medication for depression. He still battles post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and its demons, nightmares and flashbacks.
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